TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed his first death warrant.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis signs 1st death warrant
- Robert Joe Long scheduled to be executed on May 23
- Long has been on death row since 1986
The warrant is for a convicted Tampa murderer.
Robert Joe Long is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. May 23 at Florida State Prison in Starke. He was sentenced to death after pleading guilty for multiple murders. Long, 65, murdered at least eight women and has been on death row for almost 34 years.
According to the Florida Attorney General's Office: "Robert Joe Long pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder on September 23, 1985, for the May 27, 1984 first-degree murder of a young woman he picked up on Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, Florida.
"On September 23, 1985 he also pleaded guilty to seven additional first degree murder charges and numerous sexual batteries and kidnapping charges. He was sentenced to death on September 23, 1985 for the murder of the young woman he killed May 27, 1984.
The Florida Supreme Court, on direct appeal, affirmed Long's convictions and sentences on June 30, 1988, but as to the death penalty sentence, the court vacated the death sentence and remanded the case to the trial court for a new penalty phase."
Long was again sentenced to death in Hillsborough County after a new jury trial on sentencing.
This will be DeSantis' first ordered execution, following a record 28 executions ordered by previous Gov. Rick Scott.
Robert Joe Long is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. May 23 at Florida State Prison in Starke. (Florida State Prison)